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Custom Speakers?

willie-aspen

willie-aspen

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
Hi Folks,

Bit of a mystery here. Friend bought a pair of speakers that we're advertised as "custom Canton" speakers. But, they don't seem to have any Canton components. The tweeters and the mids appear to be California Audio Technology units and the woofers have "Hales" stickers on them.

So, the question is does anyone recognize these or are they really custom speakers?

Thanks!
Jeff

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They sure look to be custom (aka DIY) speakers. The drivers were apparently pilfered from commercial speakers, which is not unusual. And California Audio Technologies and Hales did not make their own woofers and tweeters.. They were probably made to spec by companies like SEAS or Vifa. They could sound pretty good IF they have a properly designed crossover. Otherwise, who knows?
 
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I kind of thought the same thing, but CAT’s own speaker have a similarly shaped cabinet…these go for $500k.
 
Flattering attempt at a clone.

Genuine CAT's have an impressive high gloss finish(like freekin' glass) on all surfaces, all corners are rounded with a small radius, and unlike the speaker in the OP, CAT cut the same size radius for the corners of the crossover/input panel, and the opening it goes in.

This is a sloppy hack:

sloppy hack.jpg

The real deal:

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That's an acceptable hypothesis. Although, if you look at the last photo posted, the crossover board near the woofer says "California Audio Technology".

Perhaps of more pressing concern, both woofers need new rubber surrounds. These are serious woofers and the only clue to their origin is a sticker on each magnet that says, "Hales 100805-A05". It's a 10" unit with a .75" roll.

Here's a couple of pics:

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I’ve gone to DIY speaker events, listened to and looked over some DIY speakers that are better craftsmanship than you can buy for five-figures, shootouts between them and a quality reference speaker show their SQ to be in some cases very impressive, this would be somewhere in the middle of the pack at one of those events.

Not to be sneezed at, might be a very listenable speaker even if DIY.
 
Well, now that I've seen that the crossover boards and mids/tweeters are all CAT products, I wonder if this is an early prototype without all of the fine craftsmanship. I guess the next question is: Did CAT make their crossover boards and/or drivers available to the public at any time?

I'll also tell you that the new owner thinks that they sound very good and he has many excellent speakers currently (Focal, Wilson, Tekton, Sonus Faber).
 
N0rt0n said:
Look to be the same as this ad

offerup.com

Custom Built CANTON Speakers Pair for Sale in Niwot, CO - OfferUp

Used (normal wear), Custom built speaker pair. Each with 2x 6", 1 3" tweeter, and 1 10" sub. Both 10" subs need to be replaced. They are normally over 700 each. solid wood boxes. If you are going to try to negotiate, you actually have to try. If you go the lazy way and ask what the lowest I will...
offerup.com offerup.com
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That's them. Quite a deal for all of the individual drivers alone.
 
willie-aspen said:
Well, now that I've seen that the crossover boards and mids/tweeters are all CAT products, I wonder if this is an early prototype without all of the fine craftsmanship. I guess the next question is: Did CAT make their crossover boards and/or drivers available to the public at any time?

I'll also tell you that the new owner thinks that they sound very good and he has many excellent speakers currently (Focal, Wilson, Tekton, Sonus Faber).
Click to expand...
Is it possible they sold drivers and crossovers, maybe even with plans, like a kit?
 
Why not email CAT some photos and ask? I've had nearly a 100% response rate from smaller audio companies I've emailed over the years. They're usually run by nice people who love their products.
 
maxhifi said:
Why not email CAT some photos and ask? I've had nearly a 100% response rate from smaller audio companies I've emailed over the years. They're usually run by nice people who love their products.
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My friend did reach out to them on Monday via email with photos included. I'll let you know what their reply is.
 
loudnoises said:
Is it possible they sold drivers and crossovers, maybe even with plans, like a kit?
Click to expand...
It's possible, but I don't remember seeing them being offered. Similarly, I don't recall any Hales woofers being seen in the DIY community. Doesn't mean it didn't happen, but I would think that someone here would have heard if they did.
 
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I seem to recall something about Hales liquidating their inventory when they folded up, so that may be how the builder acquired the Hales woofers.
 
My buddy reached out to Madisound and here's the reply he got:

Thanks for sending the pictures.

Although we won't be able to supply you a surround, there is an interesting story here and that info may help you out.

My co-worker Brian somehow remembered being shopped these woofers back in 2001 and has a letter from Paul Hales w/ info on them! Looks like we passed and CAT bought them.

They are Focal woofers. The part number is 10L6411 which is similar to a 10K6411.

Maybe you can find a Focal surround or someone that knows about them. Try guys off this list if you haven't already:

https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/speaker-repair
 
My buddy finally got to talk to someone from CAT. Apparently these were custom built by CAT for a dealer back in the early 2000s. It is designed to be driven by 4 channels of amplification (1 channel to the bass and 1 to the mids/tweeter per side) with an external crossover. CAT didn't have a purpose-built crossover, nor did they specify a crossover point or slope, which I found a bit odd. The guidance was to experiment in the neighborhood of 100 Hz. So, right now he's playing with a miniDSP.

I will say that it sounded quite good when I heard it on Saturday, though I think the bass needs to be dialed in a bit more.
 
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